PARIS – Rana Reider, who has been at the 2024 Olympics as a coach for Canadian sprinting star Andre De Grasse, has had his credential revoked by the Canadian Olympic Committee.
In a news release, the COC said the decision to provide the coach with access to the Games was “based on the understanding that his probation with the US Center for Safe Sport ended in May this year,” and that it learned “new information” on Sunday.
Reider, it said, only had official access to the warm-up and training venues for athletics.
Multiple published reports have highlighted three lawsuits filed against Reider in Broward County, Fla., including one allegation of rape in a complaint filed in December. According to the Palm Beach Post, two other cases were filed in June. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Who is Rana Reider?
The 54-year-old from California had been known for working with some of the biggest names in the game. Besides De Grasse, he has also coached elite sprinters such as Marcell Jacobs and Marvin Bracy-Williams.
His accreditation for the 2024 Games was granted through the COC, where he was to work as the personal coach for De Grasse.
De Grasse, the defending 200-metre gold medal winner, moved on through the first round of qualifying at that distance, but did not make the final in the 100-metre event.
Reider and De Grasse first worked together from 2018 through 2022, which led to the 200-metre gold and 100-metre bronze medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. After leaving to work with Irish-based coach John Coghlan, De Grasse reunited with Reider in Florida in late 2023.
Reider is also the personal coach of Jacobs, an Italian who won the gold at Tokyo three years ago. He has coached at several spots around the world during his career, including the University of Florida, Kansas State and Clemson.
He was hired by Austria to prepare that country’s athletes for the 2012 London Games then later coached in the U.K.
Why was Reider removed?
In a statement, the COC said that Reider was originally given an accreditation “based on the understanding that his probation with the US Centre for Safe Sport ended in may this year, that he had no other suspensions or sanctions and otherwise met our eligibility requirements.”
The COC said that understanding changed on Sunday when the organization learned of more information about “the appropriateness” of Reider remaining as an accredited member of the Canadian team.
After the COC and Athletics Canada discussed the matter, the COC made the decision to remove Reider from the Games.
Why did De Grasse start working with him?
By the fall of 2018, De Grasse was 24 years old and coming off hamstring injuries in back-to-back seasons. He had been working with a Canadian coach, Stuart McMillan, who was based in Arizona, until he connected with a new coach that November.
“I just thought maybe it was time for a change” De Grasse told The Canadian Press, “try something new.”
Reider had been working in The Netherlands, but he was returning home to Florida.
“We talked,” De Grasse told the wire service. “Then we talked on the phone, texted. It definitely was a long thought process.”
What happened in 2021?
In November 2021, The Guardian, a newspaper based in the United Kingdom, reported the U.S. Center for SafeSport was opening an investigation following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct involving Reider.
“We have received no evidence whatsoever about the claims,” his lawyer, lawyer Ryan Stevens, said in a statement to The Canadian Press. “The SafeSport Code defines ‘sexual misconduct’ broadly.”
Athletics Canada, the sport’s national governing body, said it was suspending payments to Reider related to his work with any Canadian athletes.
In 2023, he was placed on probation for a year. (“Mr. Reider acknowledged his consensual romantic relationship with an adult athlete,” according to a statement published on his lawyer’s website. “Mr. Reider was not found in violation of any other sexual misconduct claims.”)
When did De Grasse stop working with him?
After three years together, De Grasse left Reider in 2022 to work with John Coghlan, an Irish coach based in Orlando, Fla. As he did in his split with McMillan, the Canadian coach, De Grasse described the move as about wanting “to try something different.”
“It had nothing to do really with what was happening, I still don’t even know what’s going on, because no one said anything,” he told The Canadian Press. “Some people left and some people stayed, but everyone has their own reason. But I just wanted to try to get a fresh start, and I like Orlando. … I think it would be good for my kids as well.”
Why did De Grasse return to Reider before Paris?
In October 2023, the CBC reported De Grasse had returned to Reider.
Athletics Canada sent a statement to the public broadcaster: “While athletes may have personal coaches of their choosing, all personal and national team coaches must go through a background screening process and have completed safe sport training prior to participation in any Athletics Canada official events and training camps.”
Why did the COC give Reider a credential for Paris?
“Because he coaches our top sprinter, right?,” Glenroy Gilbert, head coach of Athletics Canada, told reporters on Tuesday. “And again, our focus is on performance. And Andre’s coach, we’re going to do whatever we can to accredit him within the boundaries of what we do.”
– With files from Andrea Hill and Postmedia News